Maine well being officers reported 698 new circumstances of COVID-19 on Saturday and three extra deaths because the state continues to see a sustained excessive price of infections specialists say is pushed largely by unvaccinated folks.
The seven-day day by day case common has hovered at about 500 circumstances for a lot of the final month. Throughout the nation, in the meantime, circumstances steadily declined in September and October, earlier than leveling off prior to now week.
For the reason that pandemic started, there have been 107, 772 confirmed or possible circumstances of COVID-19 and 1,207 peopled have died with the virus, in keeping with information from the Maine Heart for Illness Management and Prevention.
Hospitalizations had not been up to date Saturday morning, however as of Friday there have been 223 people with COVID-19 in Maine hospitals, together with 78 in crucial care and 38 on ventilators. The variety of folks hospitalized in Maine stays at a sustained excessive degree whilst hospitalizations have come down nationally. Nearly all of these in Maine hospitals are unvaccinated.
Well being care methods in Maine have postponed sure surgical procedures as a result of COVID-19 sufferers are straining capability. A staffing scarcity in nursing house can be contributing the strain on hospitals as a result of sufferers are pressured to remain hospitalized longer whereas ready for a mattress in a long-term care facility.
As for vaccinations, the tempo has picked up in current weeks and elementary aged kids started getting pictures final week. Faculty clinics are anticipated to start vaccinating pupils this week.
Maine’s vaccination price is about 71 p.c, fourth-highest within the nation behind Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut, in keeping with the Bloomberg Information Vaccine Tracker.
General, Maine has given 945,975 ultimate doses of vaccine, which accounts for 70.37 p.c of all residents.
Along with ultimate doses, Maine has administered 115,409 booster doses.
In response to information up to date each Friday by the Maine Heart for Illness Management and Prevention, unvaccinated folks have contracted COVID-19 at a lot larger charges, accounting for 86 p.c of all COVID-19 circumstances since vaccinations turned extensively obtainable this spring.
Maine had the 18th-highest price of COVID-19 circumstances within the nation Friday, with 35 circumstances per 100,000 inhabitants on a seven-day rolling common, in keeping with the Harvard International Well being Institute. The nationwide common is 22 circumstances per 100,000. New Hampshire and Vermont even have an infection charges properly above the nationwide common.
Dr. Nirav Shah, Maine CDC director, has stated in current weeks that the uneven vaccination rates in elements of Maine are a contributing issue, leaving pockets of unvaccinated folks to unfold the illness. He has additionally stated the state’s earlier low case counts are among the many causes the delta variant surge has been sustained in Maine whereas subsiding in different elements of the nation. The far more contagious delta variant is burning by means of unvaccinated populations, he has stated, and Maine’s low case counts throughout a lot of the pandemic implies that unvaccinated populations had little pure immunity to COVID-19 when the delta variant hit.
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